<p>For those of you in China/Korea/Japan, can you please tell me how prestigious or well-known the "Seven Sisters" are?</p>
<p>In particular, how do the reputations of Wellesley/MHC/Smith compare?</p>
<p>Are Bryn Mawr and Barnard less well-known in these countries? Thanks! :)</p>
<p>hmm..well i live in the US---west coast to be exact. I'm korean btw. and my dad didn't know of wellesley until i told him i had applied and got accepted ^_^'' yea but he's a guy so blah. my mom on the other hand knew about Wellesley and was really impressed by it's reputation. esp. b/c of the fact that hillary clinton was an alumni and realizing the sheer academic rigor and excellence the school represented. however, in general wellesley is not well known other than those who matter...meaning the intellectual groups/academia recognize it's prestige. i mean if you just tell them that it's like Ewha University in Korea, you'll see eyebrows raised...even though Wellesley is obviously superior to Ewha but whatever. I don't know much about Japan. But I do know that in China, Wellesley has it's fair share of recognition...mostly in Southern China obviously and Taiwan. but this is b/c of Madame Chiang Shiek and Maxine Hong Kingston.</p>
<p>hi crazedjunior! I know that Wellesley is wellknown among American-Koreans, but is it also wellknown among Koreans in Korea? </p>
<p>Oh, and I've heard of Ewha as well! is it supposed to be academically on-par with the "SKY"? Thanks!</p>
<p>oh, and is Wellesley even better known in Korea than Williams/ Amherst/ Swarthmore?</p>
<p>when i said that it received recognition i meant in korea...williams, amherst, swat i thought were pretty obscure...</p>
<p>but don't take my word for it...i mean i'm just using what i've heard with my parents, family, and friends in korea...</p>
<p>My mom's from Korea and she doesn't know a thing about Wellesley. In fact, she doesn't really like it. But my dad is from India, and he's heard of it there.</p>
<p>I live in Taiwan and I was wondering when I will get the EE letter.</p>
<p>Has anyone received it yet?</p>
<p>Wellesley, in my family, definitely has the most prestige of the Seven Sisters (I'm from mainland China, btw.) When I was younger, one of my parents' colleagues joked that I should, "go to Wellesley for Undergrad, date a Harvard man, and go to Harvard for grad school."</p>
<p>By contrast, when I told my father another all womens' school I was looking at was Barnards, he stared at me and said, "What is that?" And didn't see its merits until I mentioned Columbia.</p>
<p>yea i totally agree with what likeatuesday said! i did the same thing and got the same response</p>
<p>hi,, im a guy and just visited this forum for some reason
im a korean who came here approximately 4 yrs ago,,,so i know wat itz like in korea,,,
it is sad, but in korea, most LAC are not well known
for example, koreans think NYU is one of the best universities in the USA!! (no offense)
and i only learned about LAC when i was researching this senior year..</p>
<p>good luck everyone</p>
<p>I suppose it's worth mentioning that anyone who picks a school for prestige is a fool. After college you can go on and similarly let the opinion of others decide who you should work for, where you live, what car you drive, and who you marry.</p>
<p>All the prestige in the world doesn't mean diddly if a school--or anything else--isn't a good fit for you. "Prestige lust" is one of the saddest things I frequently encounter on CC.</p>
<p>I live in Tokyo (and have been in country for more than thirty years) and though I do not have hard stats to back me up, I would say that among the "general" Japanese populace, the most well-known U.S. colleges/universities would be (in no particular order but I think Harvard would be number 1) : Harvard, Berkeley, MIT and Stanford. Many other top-notch universities ( e.g. the other Ivies such as Cornell or Dartmouth, Caltech, AWS etc...) would draw blank looks requiring another sentence or two of explanation.</p>
<p>In Japan, there are several all-women colleges, known as "joshi- daigaku" which are generally viewed as "finishing schools". The more serious women students would apply to coed institutions such as the Univ of Tokyo, Keio, or Waseda.</p>
<p>My $0.02 about perception of Wellesley/MHC/Smith in Japan -- mostly agree w/ heydad above about the avg person on the street. (But then again, the avg. American won't have head of Todai, Keio or Waseda.)</p>
<p>Instead, I'd argue that any Japanese/multinational companies recruiting grads from US schools will have heard of all these schools. And besides, Japanese firms & multinationals recruit aggressively in Boston each year for US grads: </p>
<p><a href="http://www.careerforum.net/index.asp?lang=E%5B/url%5D">http://www.careerforum.net/index.asp?lang=E</a></p>
<p>So don't worry about it and go with the school you like best.</p>
<p>I would like to comment on TheDad's comments on prestige. Prestige of a school is unfortunately more and more relevant nowadays in the job market. Given the number of smart graduates and step-ladder type recruiting programs popular among many employers, the reputation and prestige of a school actually does matter because certain employers only recruit at specific brand name schools. Not to say that you should go somewhere unhappy just for the name, but in selecting the school, you should consider your prospects post-graduation as well.</p>
<p>In terms of the Wellesley name in Asia, I've found that in China, Japan and Korea, Wellesley is recognizable in general. I'm not so certain people are that quick to recognize the "Seven Sisters" in Asia or even some parts of the US.</p>
<p>Yojimbo - the OP asked how well-known the "Seven Sisters" were <em>in China/Korea/Japan</em>. I took this to mean, how "well-known" they are among the general populace (not how well-known they would be to Japanese employers attending job fairs in the Boston area).</p>
<p>WellesleyGrad - I guess the OP's question is rather vague. I'm sure that if you asked certain groups of people whether they've heard of Wellesley or any of the Seven Sisters, you would get a positive response (along the lines of "certainly, we've heard of them!") I think these people would be related to the schools as alums or else know somebody who attended.</p>
<p>I believe, however, the "everyday Hiroshi and Keiko" in Japan) would know "Harvard, Berkeley, Stanford" - even if they didn't know a soul who attended or graduated from any of these universities. </p>
<p>(I don't know anything about the folks in China or Korea) </p>
<p>As "lamentable" as it may sound when it comes to choosing colleges, the Japanese, I believe, are prestige conscious. Think of "Todai" and the weight it carries compared to say, "Ryu-dai" (Ryukyu Daigaku).</p>
<p>In the fashion world, brands such as Gucci and Louis Vuitton are making money by the bushel because of the prestige attached to the names.</p>
<p>I'm sorry everyone -- never realized that the original poster was looking for general name recognition rather than among potential employers. After all, ones doesn't go to a LAC expecting name recognition from the random guy "off the street" in the US or anywhere else. </p>
<p>Presumably it's no coincidence that the few Japanese students that do attend US LACs (Swarthmore, Amherst, etc) for 2yr exchs are junior diplomats from the Gaimusho. It's really only for those "in the know" or for those who intend to stay here.</p>
<p>(Pls chime in if my personal impression is off base.)</p>
<p>Yo-Jo, (not to sound disrespectful but "yo-jo" is shorter and a little 'catchier' - sort of like mo-jo)</p>
<p>I'm think the gaimusho sends its people everywhere; the OP, I think, was asking about name recognition in general. I'm not sure whether his/her question was directly related to choosing a college (though I'm sure it could be).</p>
<p>Basically, I treated it as a simple, straightforward question.</p>
<p>But anyway....there are LOTS of great colleges/univs where a person could get a tremendous education, irrespective of "prestige".</p>